Chapter 499: From The Future

Truth be told, Chen Xiaolian himself had no idea how to explain matters to Miao Yan.

This matter was too strange. Chen Xiaolian’s mind gradually came forward with a vague answer. Zero City’s main system had sent him back into the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang instance dungeon, the one that he had experienced before. This was something akin to time travel.

However, the specifics of how Zero City ‘s main system had accomplished this feat remained a mystery to Chen Xiaolian.

As for Miao Yan…

Chen Xiaolian had first intended to lie to her… … after all, this matter was really difficult to explain. Thus, lying to her would be the simplest way of dealing with this.

Almost instantly, he decided against it.

Perhaps he could lie to others. However, lying to Miao Yan did not appear to be the best choice.

Who was Miao Yan? She was a high-ranking Player with her own Exclusive Account.

She possessed super strength and a good intellect. Not to mention, there was her powerful and mysterious background. Someone without a powerful background could not possibly possess an Exclusive Account.

Most importantly, the relationship between Miao Yan and Chen Xiaolian had always been a ‘special’ one.

As a Player, it was only natural for them to stand opposite the natives of this world.

However, Miao Yan was a strange existence.

The relationship between her and Chen Xiaolian was like that of partners. They had fought side by side before and had even discussed matters together before.

Miao Yan could be regarded as Chen Xiaolian’s only means to understand the Upper Plane.

That was because Miao Yan had always been friendly toward him. She was not hostile. On Chen Xiaolian’s side, he did manage to gather some precious information from her before.

Rather than trying to blindly create a lie to bluff her, it would be better to use a smarter approach.

After the two of them were done adjusting their equipment, Miao Yan produced an item from her storage equipment. It was a metal rod. After pressing it down, the top part of the metal rod released a faint yellow coloured light.

She held the metal rod and, like the security guards in an airport, swept it across her whole body. Chen Xiaolian realized that the water on the soaked clothes that Miao Yan was wearing were all quickly sucked dry. Even her wet hair was dried.

Seeing how Chen Xiaolian was looking at her, Miao Yan smiled and tossed the metal rod over. “I will lend it to you for a bit.”

Chen Xiaolian gave it a glance. However, he then casually tossed it back at Miao Yan. “I am a man. Getting a little wet is nothing.”

Although Miao Yan was not his enemy, she was full of tricks and schemes, just like a cunning fox. Chen Xiaolian dared not take the risk of using something she lent him.

“Aren’t you a cautious one?” Miao Yan smiled and kept the item away.

She then produced something like an energy bar. After pulling its package open, she ate some of it and munched down. After that, she drank some water.

“Now, let us talk.”

Chen Xiaolian looked at Miao Yan and suddenly asked, “Can you tell me what time is it now?”

“Time?” Miao Yan was stunned – this was an instance dungeon. The time inside an instance dungeon and the outside world was different as they were not synchronized. Thus, the act of asking for the time was nonsensical.

However, Miao Yan was quick to understand what Chen Xiaolian meant. She checked her watch and said, “It has been 18 minutes since the instance dungeon began.”

“… … 18 minutes.” Chen Xiaolian calculated inwardly.

According to his memories, the him from this time was now still together with Qiu Yun. Next, they would encounter Alice’s group. After that, they would act separately and fall into a trap. It was inside that trap that he had encountered Miao Yan. That was how they had come to know each other…

That was more or less how things played out.

At present, the instance dungeon had only gone on for 18 minutes. Thus, at this point in time, the him from this time was still with Qiu Yun.

At this point in time, Miao Yan, a Player with special privileges, was adventuring alone.

After considering that, Chen Xiaolian tried his best to speak with a direct tone, “We do indeed know each other. We had participated in an instance dungeon before and fought side by side. However, at present, those memories do not exist in you.”

Miao Yan’s face twisted.

Chen Xiaolian had said “At present, those memories do not exist in you”. However, in Miao Yan’s opinion, that meant her memories had been erased.

As a Player, she was far more knowledgeable about the directives of this world’s programming compared to a native like Chen Xiaolian.

Memories erased?

Only if someone infringed upon the few critically restricted areas of the main system would their memories be erased.

Could it be…

She was unable to stop herself from staring at Chen Xiaolian.

“Your name is Miao Yan, a high-ranking Player. You possess an Exclusive Account. The identity of your Exclusive Account in the outside world is a Countess of the Norman family…” Chen Xiaolian quickly said.

Miao Yan’s face grew even more solemn.

As a high-ranking Player, her Exclusive Account was something of a personal secret. If her enemies were to find out about the identity of her Exclusive Account, then some of those people would attempt to kill her Exclusive Account. One such example was the group of crazy Awakened ones.

These actions could not actually cause the Players any real harm. However, it could still cause them a considerable amount of problems.

This young man actually knew of her Exclusive Account’s identity.

“Don’t look at me that way.” Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly before continuing, “I did not try to pry into the matter of your identity. You are the one who told me about it.”

“I… I told you?” Miao Yan frowned. “Could it be we are that close?”

“… … something like friends. At the very least, I consider you as a friend.” Chen Xiaolian sighed.

“So, why did my memories get erased?”

“Because…” Chen Xiaolian had wanted to say: Because these things had yet to happen. However, reason told him that Miao Yan might not believe him if he said that. In fact, it might only end up arousing her suspicions. Trying to explain that would only cause more issues.

“Because…” Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. “Because of the rules of the system. Some memories would be automatically blocked and erased. I believe there is no need for me to explain these rules to you.”

Miao Yan’s body gave a shudder and she stared at Chen Xiaolian. “Just who exactly are you? Awakened? Or… … Player?”

There was a helpless smile on Chen Xiaolian’s face as he replied, “That… … for now, there is no way for me to tell you that.”

“How do I know you are not lying to me?”

“… …” Chen Xiaolian thought about it for a moment before suddenly pulling out a piece of paper. He turned his body, his back facing Miao Yan, before quickly scribbling some words on the piece of paper.

Next, he folded the piece of paper and tossed it to Miao Yan.

Before Miao Yan could move to open unfold the piece of paper, Chen Xiaolian quickly said with a serious expression, “Don’t open it yet!”

“… … what do you mean?”

“I mean you should not open it now.” Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly and continued, Later, you can open it later. When that happens, the things written on that piece of paper would make you believe that I am not lying to you.”

If this were someone else…

For example, Qiao Qiao… considering her character, she would probably ignore his words and unfold the paper to see what was written on it before anything else.

If it was someone like Phoenix… she would probably only pretend to agree to him. Then, she would figure a way to lose Chen Xiaolian and use the opportunity to find out the contents of the paper.

Miao Yan however…

Chen Xiaolian held an indescribable level of trust in Miao Yan. This woman did not have some ordinary character. She possessed a considerable level of patience and intellect.

Although she was curious, she could – through her intellect and sense of reason – suppress that curiosity of hers.

Miao Yan gave Chen Xiaolian a glance before keeping the folded paper into her storage equipment.

“I will trust you some more,” Miao Yan muttered. “My instinct is telling me that you are not my enemy.”

“Your instinct has always been very accurate.” Chen Xiaolian smiled.

“Then…”

“We can continue forward to complete the quest.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. “Be at ease, my objective will not conflict yours.”

“What is your quest objective?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled, “It is not the coffin of Qin Shihuang.”

Hearing that, Miao Yan’s body flinched. She stared incredulously at Chen Xiaolian. “You…”

“Let us go. I believe you must have done a great deal of preparation for this instance dungeon. I will just follow behind you.” Chen Xiaolian spread both his hands.

A few minutes later…

“… … according to my speculations and the results of my research, the underground palace of Epang should be somewhere deep underground. According to the construction methods of the building, besides the passageways of the underground palace, the underground river should be the quickest shortcut. Diving into the underground river and sneaking in along the flow of the river water should be faster and safer compared to using the underground passageways.”

After Miao Yan had finished explaining, she turned and saw that there was a rather absent-minded look on Chen Xiaolian’s face. She frowned and asked, “Do you have any objections?”

“No.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. “It is as I have stated earlier, I will just follow you.”

“Don’t you have any plans?”

“… … my plan is not as good as yours,” Chen Xiaolian said with a shameless smile.

Miao Yan shook her head. “I really doubt I could befriend someone like you… let’s go!”

The two of them returned to the river bank. Miao Yan quickly produced a diving helmet. After putting the helmet on, she pressed a button on the helmet and operating sounds quickly came from the helmet.

Step by step, Miao Yan walked into the water. When she did so, Chen Xiaolian noticed that a force field was being projected by the helmet, forcing the water away.

Although Miao Yan was already inside the river, the water around her body was forced to move away from her. A bubble that can accommodate one person appeared around her.

“This is an underwater movement equipment. It possesses an automatic scanning function and an underwater sonar.” Miao Yan looked at Chen Xiaolian. “However, I had only prepared one. You will have to figure out something on your own.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly. “It is all right. Like I said before, I am a man. I don’t mind getting wet a little.”

He pulled out a set of diving equipment. Placing the oxygen tank on his back, he bit down on the oxygen pipe. After that, he signalled to Miao Yan: Let us go.

After moving into the river, the two of them secretly moved forward along the river.

Miao Yan moved in front while Chen Xiaolian followed behind her. The underwater movement equipment of Miao Yan’s was indeed very impressive.

The bottom part of the underground river was not flat. There were reefs, raised rocks and deep holes.

If one were to use normal diving equipment to move forward, that person would likely encounter many dangerous situations. Thankfully however, there was Miao Yan there to pave a path forward. Her equipment could properly illuminated their surroundings. At the same time, it also possessed a radar, helping her avoid all the dangerous spots. After moving forward for roughly 10 minutes, the two of them reached a junction in the river. Miao Yan’s radar was quick to help her find the way.

Next, they continued moving forward for another 20 minutes. Chen Xiaolian calculated the time…

The flow of water before them suddenly grew turbulent. Underwater whirlpools that were visible to the naked eye appeared.

Miao Yan, who was in front, turned and made a ‘careful’ signal to Chen Xiaolian.

Then, she led the way, bringing them through the gap between two underwater whirlpools.

The two of them cautiously walked forward, moving in between the gaps of several other whirlpools. With Miao Yan leading the way, it appeared that there would be no danger.

As they were seemingly approaching the end of the underground river, the very moment they caught a glimpse of light from the other end of the river…

Suddenly!

The surrounding whirlpools abruptly moved. Both Miao Yan and Chen Xiaolian, who was between the few whirlpools were caught by the incoming whirlpools, They had no time to dodge and were sucked in by the whirlpool.

The turbulent flow of water surged in and threw the two figures together. Miao Yan had it worse compared to Chen Xiaolian. As there was no water around her to form a cushion, when the force of the whirlpool sucked her in, her body was thrown onto the surface of the rocks. Her mouth was forced open as she spat out blood from her mouth.

The powerful water pressure came crashing down on Miao Yan, pinning her down the surface of a rock. She used her strong body to endure it. Then, she saw Chen Xiaolian attempting to move closer to her. He stretched out one hand in an attempt to grab her. Miao Yan exerted her strength to grab hold of Chen Xiaolian’s wrist…

At that very moment, the strong water pressure caused the rock they were pinned onto to break down.

After the rock broke down, the powerful water pressure pushed the two of them into a hole. This hole was like a drain, which instantly sucked the two of them inside.

Their bodies were thrown up and down, like going through a roller coaster. After that, they fell onto an empty area.

Miao Yan quickly sat up. She forced herself to swallow down the blood in her mouth before vigilantly checking her surroundings…

Huge stone pillars rose up to support several stone platforms. However, these stone pillars had clearly been eroded, badly. They were already beginning to grow unstable.

Beneath the pillars was… … a sea of mercury.

This was a huge sealed underground area.

Miao Yan’s heart had sunk.

Then, she heard Chen Xiaolian speaking up behind her. “Now you can open the paper.”

“… …” Without saying anything, Miao Yan quickly pulled the folded piece of paper from her storage equipment and unfolded it. When she read it, her face twisted.

Shockingly, the words written on the paper were:

“Underground area, stone platform, mercury, trapped.”

Miao Yan was stunned for a good second. She swiftly turned around, gripping the piece of paper until it turned into a ball, and stared intently at Chen Xiaolian. “You… … just who are you? How could you… how could you know…”

Chen Xiaolian slowly got up. He patted the dirt off his clothes and smiled wryly before saying, “Miao Yan, do you still not get it? The instance dungeon that I participated with you is this very one! As for me… I am… … from the future!”

From… … the future?

Miao Yan felt as though she was struck by lightning and there was a look of disbelief on her face.

…